I mentioned to My Sun and Stars how the kids have been well behaved and things were going smoothly. She said it was the honeymoon period and I should enjoy it. Well. Okay.

But, it has been good. We have, as a class, looked closely at the five standards for this first unit and I translated the academic language into more kid friendly language with them. I think this is important because they need to get used to seeing academic language that says things like, “Discern the meaning of analogies encountered, analyzing the specific comparisons as well as relationships and inferences.” Not only do they get to build some vocabulary, but they also learn a good test-taking skill in breaking instructions like this apart.

This is an important step, I think, because the kids now know what we are working toward in this unit. For them to take ownership of their learning, I think they need to know what their specific objectives are. We also began talking about rhetoric.

Good times.

I always enjoy the first week or two of school where you mark two kids per period absent for two weeks straight until they are finally dropped from your roll. Meanwhile, one of the students tells you, each day, “She doesn’t go here. She moved.” Too bad the attendance office can’t take her word for it.